Macroscale forced perspective: A forced perspective category but with a little twist. Build a forced perspective scene where the foreground is larger than minifig scale. The background may be any size you want (including minifig scale if you wish).

Upon seeing this I thought to myself: “Well, I’m in trouble…” This was my first (but definitely not the last) try at forced perspective. I knew I had countless possibilities of what to build, but this isn’t always a good thing… Nevertheless I made a choice fairly quickly- I wanted to make a detailed macroscale natural environment, some airplanes again, and put something interesting in the background to create the illusion of the large ‘battlefield’. I didn’t have much time to build it, but I still experimented with different angles and various scale options a little bit. The moment I decided to build a what-if doomsday scene I knew that a large nuclear mushroom cloud was a must for the background. And so were the mushrooms a must for the foreground- to make a comparison between the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ (using the word ‘ugly’ is up to you… :D) Well, it’s true that mushrooms can be poisonous and deadly too, but with proper knowledge and caution, you can always find those that will bring satisfaction to you. But we have to prevent people from thinking that the other type of ‘mushrooms’ can be good and useful too…

The whole creation consists of approximately four ‘layers’: The foreground with mushrooms, moss and other plants, then the trees that can be seen further downhill, the two airplanes and finally the mushroom cloud with the city at the coast in the background. That Soviet interceptor is there to enhance the depth illusion and is preparing to attack the British couple...

You’ve probably heard that the only living things that would survive a nuclear war would be cockroaches. Even though that is not true, I decided to add one nice, fat cockroach, which just happened to leave the cellar of a Russian dacha. Stereotypes everywhere… :D Well, what is true is the fact that cockroaches and many types of insects are more resistant to ionizing radiation because their cells don’t divide that much between molting cycles. Cells are most susceptible to damage by ionizing radiation when they are dividing, so the humans suffer more in this case. Cockroaches can also survive higher doses of radiation, but if they were exposed for a longer period of time, the fate of their species would be just as dark as ours.

A Soviet badge from WW 2 era, lost by a fallen soldier, a reminder of conflict, that apparently hasn’t taught us much. The piece of metal is now just a playground for ants. It was quite fun to build it, and I find its symbolic meaning important for this MOC.

The British Aircraft Corporation TSR-2 is one of my favorite warplanes. It was developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a strike and reconnaissance aircraft for RAF. Only one prototype flew and test flights revealed that it wouldn’t meet the stringent original design specifications. Nevertheless it was still one (if not the most) advanced aircraft at the time, and would be a great addition to numerous air forces worldwide. It was designed to fly at high altitudes at very high speed, and then penetrate a well-defended forward battle area at low altitudes at speed around Mach 0.95, and then attack high-value targets in the rear with nuclear or conventional weapons. The program was scrapped due to rising costs and political views, in favor of purchasing the F-111- only to end up filling the gap with Bucaneers and Phantoms, and finally building the Panavia Tornado.

Ain’t she a beauty…? TSR-2 is in my opinion one of the most elegant airplanes ever built.

Radar and landing gear bay.

Bomb bay with a single free falling nuclear bomb.

English Electric Lightning still holds the title of the only all-British Mach 2 capable fighter, and was also the first in the world capable of supercruise. It first flew in year 1954, when Cold War was getting hotter and hotter. It was also known for its great climb rate, but was quite soon surpassed by other airplanes with improved avionics and newer technological solutions. Nevertheless, it was still exceptionally fast, and proved to be the only interceptor in a group of carefully selected Western fighter aircraft, capable of overtaking a Concorde in a special test mission. It is depicted here in an attractive color scheme with standard RAF roundels of that era.

Rear view, just for fun...

The nuclear blast and the devastated city.

A shot I made in broad daylight…

I depicted the TSR-2 in the original anti-flash scheme with pale roundels, just flying out of the battlefield area after bombing a Soviet coastal city. In real combat that wouldn’t be very likely to happen, because that was meant to be the role of ballistic submarines, V-bombers and stationary ballistic missiles, but necessity is the mother of invention…

Here you can hopefully feel like being a small observer in the forest... Have you noticed the lazy worm?

Some photos from different angles.

And a quote by Sydney Camm to sum it all up:
“All modern aircraft have four dimensions: span, length, height and politics. TSR-2 simply got the first three right.”

At first I thought I had ran into a lunatic, but then I remembered my homepage… And then I was like OH! Thanks for the comment, man. But there's something I need to tell you… Whoever clicks on the "Here" on my homepage will end up on their page… One time that happened to me, but the link I clicked on said I was the most awesome person on MOCpages… But then I was like… Oh… Man!! Sorry for tricking you like that… I guess it wasn't nice. :( Maybe I should dedicate that "here" link to you!! XD XD Yeah… Eating LEGOs is NOT good. :P Nice nuclear explosion here. :) Great job!

A great looking MOC, although the forced prospective through me a bit. Before I red the descriptions, I thought the humans were attacking giant cockroaches after a nuclear Apocalypse. Nice job on it all the same, the planes look great, and the larger then fig scale plants and bugs are nice too. The mushroom cloud really stands out though, I think I like it more then the planes (and I love the planes). Epic diorama man!

A fantastic creation, despite the few who find it a bit too sensitive in nature. I for one do not get offended by these types of things, and there's no reason why you can't depict the thing which will eventually cause the theme everyone loves to build about -- post apoc. LOL Well done on the aircraft and explosion, despite not getting into the next round you did an amazing job! Bravo!

Quirky! Like the sybolism, but feel this is all a bit "modern" for me! Love the TSR-2 and the Lightning; beautiful work. With regards to the nuclear mushroom, it may upset some, but one should not forget what these bombers were for and it was the threat of something as horrible as a nuclear holocost that helped keep the peace during the Cold War era.

Quoting Steffen Kasteleiner
And don´t get me wrong: I am also fascinated by military technology and will, for instance, build military aircraft in the future again. But I don´t think I would ever want to include a display of active nuclear war into my creations. No offense, but I can only repeat myself: It just seems so wrong to put that into Lego... Do you guys see what I mean? Well, even if not, I´ll stay convinced of what I said. Best regards, take care everybody! Steffen

Don't worry, I always appreciate if people think and are not afraid to share their opinion and beliefs. I am very much aware of the fact that nuclear weapons can destroy/drastically change our planet and exterminate entire human race. I did not want to glorify them in any way, I just wanted to build a visually attractive MOC, that would have a message too. Building only a nuclear test would not entirely fit into this concept. If you read the accompanying description carefully again, you'll most likely understand me. Nevertheless, I still agree, that this is a sensitive topic to depict, but it has been done before using different mediums, and I thought it can do no harm, giving it a try in LEGO too. I might add some information about the events that could have turned the Cold War 'Hot' (not only Cuban crisis of course...)after the MOColympics in order to give people better knowledge about this chapter of history- and how careful humanity still has to be, to ensure us a safe(r) future.

And don´t get me wrong: I am also fascinated by military technology and will, for instance, build military aircraft in the future again. But I don´t think I would ever want to include a display of active nuclear war into my creations. No offense, but I can only repeat myself: It just seems so wrong to put that into Lego... Do you guys see what I mean? Well, even if not, I´ll stay convinced of what I said. Best regards, take care everybody! Steffen

BTW, here is my very personal, strong, emotional and maybe out-of-place opinion to something: I agree that nuclear detonations are somewhat fascinating due to their incredible might, but I find them more than just "morally questionable". Nuclear weapons are scary, one of the worst things mankind ever invented and prone to end most of our current life on Earth. Despite the "fascination" they may create, I personally don´t know if I would want to depict nuclear war in my creations. It just seems wrong to me. but that´s just an opinion.

I like the last two pictures the best - there, the perspective´s depth really works out optically. Also, they show the most spectacular objects of the diorama together: your TSR-2 and that mushroom cloud. I think you have done a great job on both of them. The main photo and first pics you chose aren´t quite as convincing to me in terms of forced perspectives/picture depths. Your last two pics come across a lot more realistic.

A very good entry! The planes are awesome and acurate as i can expect from you. The nuke-explosion and the insects too. The idea behind your moc is realy good. I wish u good luck to reach the next round.

A ton of great work here, I'm loving the cockroach, mushrooms (cloud including) and the awesome jets....the only problem is that the forced perspective is a little off for me. The jets, mushroom cloud/destroyed city, and the soviet jet in the background all work great as a FP and are awesome builds but the jets seem almost like they are flying through the mushrooms/forest. I think if they had been put up a little higher and the pic taken lower might have made it better. Anyway, sorry for the criticism if its unwanted by a non-judge. You're building is fantastic tho so it should be interesting to see who wins. Best of luck! - J.